Last Swazi Blog

Hello everyone!

It’s the very last Swazi blog. I am both so sad yet so joyful to be able to say so. I cannot believe I’ve spent six weeks in Swazi and it is now time for me to go to yet another country. 1/4 complete and only three more to go.

I remember first arriving to training camp and feeling like the days and weeks lasted forever. I couldn’t even begin to imagine being done with a country. Yet here I am, taking the paintings I had sticky tacked onto the wall off and rolling up my sleeping bag, trying to somehow stuff everything into my big pack. The place I had made and called home for a little over a month is now clean and bare, and I’m off to make another space my new home for the time being.

I had fallen into the most beautiful and sweet routine while here, and while I’m so sad to leave it and find a new rhythm, I am grateful to be able to have loved my routine here. The only right word to describe Swazi life is “slow.” Everything here in Swazi is slow: the days, the pace, and the way no one is ever timely or in a rush. It was at first very frustrating being an American in a Swazi world, always wanting a schedule and wanting everything to flow right on time, getting things done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Over time, though, it became my favorite thing about this sweet country. My time with the Lord has never been so sweet and slow. Not a place to be and no time to rush, never in a hurry to get to the next thing, just content being alone with the Lord. I had time to read through books of the Bible in days and spend hours just journaling prayers to the Lord.

My favorite part of Swazi was the early mornings spent with the Lord. I would wake up too early and get ready for the day, then go to make my breakfast, all while talking to the Lord about what was to come that day and anything else on my heart and mind. Then I would spend my sweet time with Him. My favorite spot was where I had pulled a chair up to the ledge surrounding our little house. I set my Bible on it and was able to look out at the sun rising and the cows that would occasionally walk by the fence. It was beautiful, and there was never any rush.

I never imagined it would be so hard to leave a place I’ve only known for a little over a month. But it’s only so hard because I’ve loved so deeply — and for that I am grateful. My team leader told me that ‘mourning and grief can only exist because love was so evident’.And that is something so deeply beautiful. Therefore, I will thank the Lord for my sadness and rejoice.

Two weeks ago in my last blog, I asked you all to be praying for the weeks I am now writing about — prayers of being fiery and burning bright for the gospel; prayers that the Lord would fill me beyond my capacity so that I might pour out everything in me over those last two weeks. And I was able to do just that. I woke up daily with more fire and more flame than I’ve had in a while. I was able to go to care point with more love, more boldness, more patience, more energy, and more joy. I felt refreshed and renewed, ready to do whatever the Lord had for me each day.

That first week, we were able to see prayers answered daily. Our Shepard, who had asked us to pray over family businesses, was seeing new fruit. My teammates’ and I’s prayers over situations at home were being answered almost overnight, our home visits were going smoother than most, and we had fruitful conversations with people that we’d been praying to have. Praise God.

A few weeks ago, our Shepard began mentioning prayer requests for her family’s business — renting out houses — alongside her own business she’s beginning. These past weeks she’s been able to tell of how she’s gotten multiple calls from people interested in renting out the house. Praise God; He is so, so good. She has also mentioned the desire to start her own little business. She wants to begin a hair-braiding business but was wanting something small to do in the meantime. She mentioned how one day she was walking through the store and she came across a bag of lollies and decided to begin selling them for 2 rand a piece. She named her business Londi’s Lollies! Little did she know that that business would bring both income and joy.

Joy is one of our Shepard’s most favorite things — it’s why she became a Shepard. How ironic that growing up she attended the same care point, and she remembers just how much joy being there brought her. It was a place where she was able to let go of all worldly responsibilities and worries that were far too old for her, and she could laugh and play and be joyful. She became a Shepard because she wanted the care point to continue being that exact same thing, and she felt called to steward that space. She loves being able to create a space for the kids to do whatever they love doing. When sharing all this with me, she said with a huge smile on her face, “If they love to dance, they should dance. If they love to sing, sing. If they love to play, they should play. If they love to run, then run. I just love to see each of them happy; it makes me happy.” And what a beautiful heart posture to hold. I hope that in all that I do I hold the same posture — wanting to see people be filled with joy. I hope that I too find a job in which I have to see that people are filled with joy. Thank you, Jesus, for Lodi, our Shepard. Thank you for her beautiful heart.

During our last week at care point, we had to do final preparations for our Christmas party — one being collecting firewood. Little did we realize, it was less like collecting firewood and more like harvesting logs in a massive field, haha. Definitely something I never thought I would do, much less in a long skirt. Thank God for my trusty Blundstones, aka my boots. Shout-out KayKay!! My team was not told in advance that this was what we’d be doing, and I have to admit, we were quite thrown off and honestly a little frustrated. But thank you, Jesus, for your patience with us, and thank you that when we shift our eyes to You, our hearts are quick to follow. We walked a ways to a large field where the surrounding care point community had already spent hours chopping down countless trees and branches ready for us to gather. The beautiful thing about this was that we were not helping them — they were helping us. My team and I are a part of the care point; it was our job to collect firewood, yet the community graciously took it upon themselves to wake up early and use their time to serve us. How beautiful and how kind. I won’t lie, it was incredibly hard, haha, but it was such a filling time to lean into the Lord for strength in every form: physical strength and endurance, strength over my mind and heart to be able to lovingly and joyfully serve in the unexpected, and strength to look for opportunities to shine for the Lord in every way possible. One of the hardest days at care point, yet also one of the most filling.

The community surrounding our care point is one of the most beautiful things — and a lot of its beauty is because of how the Lord has gifted our Shepard to shepherd so well. She cares for the community so meekly and so lowly. The Lord has truly given her the gift of being gentle. To be gentle is not to be weak but to be strong — to be strong enough to bring calm and peace within every situation. And that is exactly what Londi is. She is so very strong; she holds so much wisdom and love for the Lord that she pours out to her community. And it is so beautifully evident how deeply her community loves her in return. She is a light to every house she visits and walks every path in loving boldness. The community loves her deeply because of the time she takes to pour into them, to love them, to share God’s word with them, and to serve them humbly. The Lord has taken her burdens and placed them among His strong shoulders and has taught her what it means to carry HIS burdens — which are easy and light — allowing her to truly live and serve as Christ did: meekly and lowly.

I was given the beautiful opportunity to not only teach a lesson at care point but to pick the topic on my own. I was able to spend time listening to the Lord, asking Him what He had for these sweet children and what He desired me to share with them. And He led me to teach on gentleness — to teach the heart posture Christ Himself carried on earth, the heart posture He intended us as believers to carry as well. The Lord has created me to understand things best when given an analogy or a picture and has graciously given me the gift to be able to come up with pictures to share His words with others, especially kids. He gave me the example of a rock and a feather. If you drop a rock into water, the water will become stirred up; it will no longer be still. Proverbs 15:1 says that a soft word turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. When we act out of a place of anger and quickness, our actions/words stir up anger within ourselves and within those around us. If you do the opposite and place a feather in water, it’s going to float. It’s going to sit lightly on top of the water, not causing a splash or stirring up anything. It brings nothing but stillness. James 1:19 says to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Being gentle is to be quick to listen and to be slow to respond in anger. Jesus lived the life of a feather. He was strong yet used His strength to help, heal, and love those around Him — not to hurt them. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says that He is gentle and lowly in heart, and in Him we will find rest for our souls. Jesus invites us to be gentle like Him, to use our strength to bring peace instead of hurt. This was the last lesson we gave at our care point, and it was exactly what these kids needed to hear. With all the violence experienced around them, with all the hurt and pain that has been normalized, the last thing we left them with was how the Lord loves and how He has intended for us to love. And I pray that the Lord writes His truth — this truth — on these kids’ hearts.

We had not one but two parties during the last week of care point, and both were SO fun. On Wednesday, we had a Christmas party. We spent the morning preparing a giant meal for around 200 people, and we of course operated at a Swazi pace. There was no rush, no hurry, no stress. I cut lots and lots of carrots and peeled superrrr hot potatoes, among other little tasks, then eventually joined an assembly line of packaging all the food into to-go boxes. Pro tip: If you’re ever slicing a large amount of onions — or even a small amount — soak them in a pot of water before slicing. Yay! Our kids had been preparing multiple songs and dances and even a skit since we arrived, to be able to perform for us. It was so, so sweet to see their joy and their unity that day and to be able to help feed them such a good and filling meal. It was so, so fun and joyful. One of my teammates was able to share the gospel that day — shout-out Mercy 🙂 She’s fantastic and reads every one of my blogs even though she experiences almost everything that I blog right alongside me, haha. How blessed are we that we were able to share the gospel with almost 200 kids! It was the sweetest way to begin our last week at care point — seeing our sweet kids do everything that they love so deeply and getting to serve them in return.

On our very last day, our Shepard asked us to plan a party! She didn’t have much in mind; she just wanted the kids to feel loved and seen. We decided to support Londi’s Lollies and buy enough lollipops for each kid and paint/write notes for each as well. It was so sweet to be able to write to each kid how loved they are by us and by the Lord and truly just pour our hearts so full of love into them. That day we arrived at care point feeling so many different emotions. We were so excited to have fun and love on the kids one last time but also mourning the fact that it was our last day. Our Shepard did not have us do a house visit that morning but instead let us soak up every minute with the kids and spend every second loving on each of them. After lunch, when the rest of our kids had arrived, we went inside our little building and decided to have a little dance party! Because dancing is one of their favorite activities, we thought, what better way to spend our day than doing what they love best? We did many dances we know from Making Melodies to Church Clap and even led them in one of their traditional dances, which one of my teammates — Zoey — is a pro at! The whole time was filled with so much joy, laughter, and smiles, and I will remember it forever.

After the party, we passed out the notes and lollipops and had just under an hour until our bus would arrive to take us home. I can’t describe to you the way my stomach sank when it arrived and I had to begin really saying goodbye to all these kids for the last time. One of our sweet girls who’s around four years old — Ceecee — started to sob when she realized it was time for us to leave. I bent down to give her one last hug and told her how much I love her, and after that she ran all the way home crying — and there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t comfort her; I couldn’t hold her and sing to her and tell her it would be okay like I’d been able to do countless times over the past month. All I could do was pray, and I had to remember the great peace and power that comes with that. The arms of the Father hold not only Cece but every kid there so much greater than I was ever capable of. And I had to trust that He was doing just that. How lucky are we to have a Father we can trust with not only our lives but those around us? Every goodbye was hard that day, but so often the hardest goodbyes are some of the sweetest — and thank you, Jesus, for goodbyes that are so difficult, and thank you for holding our hands while we do so.

My care point is one of my most favorite places I’ve ever been to, and a place I will never forget. I am so beyond thankful to have experienced every moment there — both the sweet and tender ones and the hard and testing ones. As I wrap up this last Swazi blog, I wanted to share something super exciting with you all. As I’ve gotten the opportunity to serve at my care point, you all have gotten the opportunity to pray alongside me — to pray for the kids there, their home life, for our Shepard, and for the care point itself. What a beautiful thing that is. The Lord has used each of us to further His kingdom in Swazi. I have another amazing opportunity! Within the last week of care point, my Shepard mentioned a new prayer request. About a third of the care points in Swazi (39 total) have it set up online for anyone to be able to sponsor the kids there, as well as the care point itself, and Joyella is not yet one of them.

So with this, I ask two things of you. Please pray that the kids at Joyella would quickly be added to this list. Being added to this list could be life-changing for them — you have no idea how far just $15 a month can go. My Shepard shared with me that she was sponsored as a kid, but not until she reached the end of middle school. She told me that every day for five years she’d wear the same shirt to school until she was sponsored. The same one shirt for five years. Can you imagine the state that her clothes were in by the end of those five years? In America, we are so quick to go back-to-school shopping for a new wardrobe or buy new clothes the second we grow tired of them — which is such a blessing, but we must face the reality that it is a blessing and not a reality for everyone. Most every kid at these care points has one uniform and a few regular outfits that are full of holes. Their shirts are too small, their pants are ripped with broken zippers, skirts too short, socks filled with holes, and shoes without buckles and soles. Some of these children can’t even afford to attend preschool or go on school trips and have to stay behind. So please pray about and consider sponsoring a child. Be the reason a kid gets new shoes that actually fit. Be the reason a child gets to attend school and learn. Be the reason a child is fed a meal and doesn’t have to go to bed hungry another night. Let the Lord use you to be a Shepard and care for His sheep as He has cared for you.

I ask that you would also pray about sponsoring the care point. The Lord puts different things on each of our hearts, which is such a beautiful thing. If we all were called to care for the same thing, who would care for the rest? Though Joyella’s kids aren’t able to be sponsored, the care point itself is. Sponsoring the care point could mean helping fund feeding the kids, helping to repair the playground, and eventually starting a preschool through the care point.

If you don’t feel led to give in any way, that’s okay! I just ask that you would continue to pray over Joyella. Continue to pray over the people of Swazi. Swazi is filled with so much brokenness and so much corruption. The government itself is so dirty — the way the king chooses to rule over his people and how he chooses to treat women. Women of Swazi have no voice — no voice to stop any form of abuse or stand up for themselves in any way. This begins when they’re children, from the time they’re born, and they’re taught that this is the way it should be. So many families and children live in such deep poverty and are drowning in their financial situations. So much of Swazi is in deep need of a reliable job that will actually provide for them and their families. So much of Swazi desperately needs the Lord. Pray for Swazi; pray for revival.

Swazi was spectacular. Thank you for partnering alongside me and the Lord over these past six weeks. Let’s continue to partner alongside the Lord in prayer. I love you all!!

Here are the links to support care points!

sponsor a kid link:

Child Sponsorship with Adventures in Missions – Adventures In Missions

sponsor Joyella care point link:

Joyela CarePoint – Adventures In Missions